Wilmington police shoot, kill dog during search for suspect

Wednesday

May 1, 2013 at 1:08 PM

A K-9 team tracked the suspect to nearby Maides Avenue, where it encountered the unrestrained dog.

By Brian Freskos and F.T. Norton Brian.Freskos@StarNewsOnline.com

Wilmington police fatally shot a dog Tuesday night during a street-to-street search for a driver who reportedly fled when officers tried to pull him over, an official said. Lucy Crockett, a spokeswoman for the Wilmington Police Department, said officers shot the unleashed dog after it tried to attack a police K-9 team involved in the search.The incident began about 9:43 p.m. Tuesday when an officer ran a tag and the car's owner came back as having a suspended license. After the officer activated his blue lights, the driver pulled into a driveway in the 400 block of Evans Street, jumped out of the car and ran toward Clay Street, Crockett said. Police set up a perimeter. A K-9 team tracked the suspect to nearby Maides Avenue, where it encountered the unrestrained dog. The dog's breed was not immediately clear. Police reports describe it as a pit bull, however photographs provided to the StarNews suggest something else. In any case, the dog, Crockett said in a media advisory, "went nose to nose with the K-9, as the handler tried to pull the K-9 away."Another officer tried to make the pit bull back off," she continued. "But the pit bull attacked the K-9, going first for his face and then trying to bite his throat." So an officer shot the dog to stop the attack. The police department is reviewing this latest incident, a routine that unfolds any time police fire their guns. A neighbor on Maides Avenue said the dog was "the friendliest dog in the neighborhood."That dog goes right to the mailbox doing his business and doesn't go out of that yard," Abdul Akbar said. "The dog has a tendency when he sees another dog to want to play. Everybody knows that dog."Akbar said the yard is unfenced, but the dog doesn't leave its boundaries. He said the owner let the dog out to use the bathroom, and then it was shot four times by police. The driver who fled escaped and was still at large Wednesday afternoon.